(Field Trip) Rooted Agriculture and Impact Investment

Meeting Point: 1:00 PM, Impact Hub Vienna, Lindengasse 56, 1070 Vienna, 25 Places

The guided tour and hiking trip will take approximately 2 hours. Please bring sturdy footwear and rain gear and/or sun protection. Travel and guided tour costs are included in the Impact Days ticket. Participants are responsible for their own costs at the vine tavern/Heurigen in Prellenkirchen.

Farmer and board member of BIO AUSTRIA, Austria and Burgenland, Georg Prantl will provide insights into his agricultural and entrepreneurial challenges, as well as production and farm management, during this field trip. Adele Jones broadens the perspective on European developments and offers insights into her work on her farm in Wales. A space for dialogue and knowledge transfer between agricultural entrepreneurs and the target group of impact investors and visitors of the Impact Days Vienna will be created. Georg will provide a holistic overview of the value chain, from primary production and farm management to marketing, and dispel the romanticized image of the "beautiful, idyllic farm where the world still seems to be in order.

Drawing on his own farm experience, Georg Prantl addresses the "blind spot", and the lost potential, between the industrialization of agricultural food production and idyllic direct marketing by farmers. We propose the following hypothesis for discussion: The loss of independence for farmers and the devaluation of their raw products often goes hand in hand with a loss of nutrient density in the healthy; foods they produce and a loss of the positive, holistic impact of agricultural enterprises, ranging from biodiversity contributions to climate and soil-friendly farming practices. We will explore this topic on a hike through the Hundsheimer Berge, a protected area designated as a European/Natura 2000 site and a grazing area in Hundsheim, Lower Austria. After the hike, we will stop at a traditional wine tavern (Heuriger).